Óneiro
by shadowfang6421
Summary: It wasn't the jet-lag from Tokyo, and it wasn't the overly calm city. There are simply some wounds that time will not touch. (Interlude)


**Óneira**

Interlude

Raven could feel her lungs rattle as the explosion rocked her body. her hearing was gone, replaced by a high-pitched ringing instead.

She barely felt the concrete chunks digging into my palms as she tried pushing herself up, her arms struggling to find the strength to do so.

As she turned her head to see the boots marching towards her, her hands curled into fists and the hatred for that 'man' once again flowed through her.

The struggle to get upright was no longer one she had to bare, instead, she gasped as she was picked up by her cape only to see a familiar crimson face.

"Look at you, so weak."

Another blow, just like the last, sent Raven hurtling across the jagged floor. Cuts pooled with blood, but she would not resign to this, it would not be her last fight.

And she felt it, rumbling in her gut only to be clawing to break free, to end the nightmare that stood before her.

She hadn't let it out, ever, not fully at least, only small amounts on accident, but this time… this was different.

She didn't hold it back, she released every ounce of rage and hatred at the crimson man.

Her skin bubbled red, replacing the pale greyish skin and she was standing again, this time with so much strength she could barely remember when she had held this much power in her grasp.

But she didn't hold it, she unleashed it, at the only target she could point it at.

She didn't hesitate, even when he smiled and charged to meet her, even when she threw him into the ground so hard, she knew that no one was supposed to survive it.

She didn't hesitate.

When he matched her blow for blow, even seemingly being faster than her she kept going, pushing and when he snatched a piece of rebar with speed she never thought possible and collapsed one of her knees she only gritted in pain.

"Yes, that's it, Raven, show me…"

She knew she was looking at him with four glowing red eyes, but she didn't care, this eruption of emotion would not be wasted it would once and for all destroy this thing that called itself a man.

He smiled, laughed, ridiculed, talked nonsense as they fought, but she tuned it out, she let it all bubble up and out at this one singular point.

It was her downfall.

She didn't even feel him grab her wrist, and it was only when she was mid-air did she fully comprehend what was happening, but when she landed the pain was immediate.

He waltzed to her, practically skipping along, she thought she could hear him whistling, but it was hard to believe.

Raven instinctively clasped her hands on the rebar she had been impaled on, she felt the blood flowing freely down her side like a waterfall, but it didn't mean there was any less rage bubbling up.

"Tsk, tsk Raven, I expected more…" he said as he crouched down in front of her.

Raven said nothing, merely spat out blood that had been coughed up right in his face, but he didn't even flinch.

"Shame," He said, wiping it away, "thought we would have longer this time."

Confused she almost responded before choking on her words, she struggled to breathe as more and more blood filled her mouth clogging her throat, she couldn't get rid of it fast enough.

And all she heard was laughter as her vision began to darken at its edged and….

"ARGH!"

Raven sucked in air as if she had never done before in her life.

She was acutely aware that she was hyperventilating but disregarded it as she threw the covers off her bed.

Sitting on the edge it was only then did she realize how badly she was shaking.

Raven clutched her arms, doing her best to hold them in place, but her skin had been made slick by the amount of sweat that had accumulated while she had tossed in her sleep.

She pushed herself off the bed and found herself pacing towards her mirror, flicking on the single light that was above it, she winced at how pale she was, even compared to her normal skin tone.

Snakingly she dabbed at her face with the hand towel, finding herself staring right into her own eyes.

For a fleeting moment, her eyes turned from their normal violet to four angled red slits.

A moment was all she needed to shatter the mirror, a crack running straight up her face, showing a split image, one her own, and one her crimson counterpart.

If only a for a few moments she just stared, unable to look away, either out of fear or denial.

But she did look away.

Raven found herself looking out over the bay from her window. The lights of thousands of windows reflecting off the bay's waters.

She could have thought about many things, anything, but her mind wandered back… back to Paris.

That crimson man, he may not have followed her back to Jump, but she couldn't escape him in her dreams.

Why?

That was the only word that came to her when she thought about him, why was it her? Why did he save them?

Why did she even hate him?

She shouldn't, in all truth what did he do?

He endangered her friend and fought her, but was it really a fight to him? Or was it more of a dance, a jester's parley?

Was she ever going to meet his gaze again? Those blackened eyes, eyes that should have been dead from emotion, but instead burned brighter than any fire she had ever seen.

As the waves stirred, the rare crystalline picture that had formed in the bay rippled and faded into a disoriented mess.

She hated him.

What more mattered?

Why.

That word again.

She knew, even if she didn't want to admit it, deep down she knew exactly why she hated him.

It was the logical conclusion, it was the end she came to at the end of this cycle every time.

He made her lose control.

And he made her love it.

Her breathing quickened, her feet shuffled, and it took every ounce of her strength to keep from jumping into a full meditative stance.

He had made her do the one thing she thought she was incapable of doing.

Willingly letting herself run rampant, making her want to unleash everything she felt at him.

But then he laughed.

He had laughed at the power she displayed, and wanted to see more, he egged her on and she happily obliged.

He had made her lose control and then danced her around like a puppet for his own amusement.

At least until the end.

Perhaps that's what she hated, that she had been capable of murdering him, she was so enveloped in a rage she disregarded his life.

But he had laughed at that too.

He laughed as blood poured from his mouth and stomach, he laughed at her concern and whined when she came to her senses about what she had done, mocking her for her humanity.

Then he left as nothing had happened… a stranger in the night.

Now she was left, alone on the dancefloor with no partner to partake in this distorted waltz.

What she hated was this…

The feeling she had, alone, and struggling to piece together her wall once again.

Like a whirlwind, he had come into her life, destroyed every ounce she held dear, the control, the small amount of innocence she had left and shattered it before her eyes.

As she watched the bay the lights melted together, the city becoming a blob of indistinguishable light.

The only difference being the two red eyes faint against the glass.

She hated him because he had unleashed that beast, and now she was struggling to cage it again.

**Interlude between **

Ataraxia Praeteritum, Perdidit Futurum

**And **

Contritum Aetheres, Detestabilis Cor

**We're back!**

**Guess who took an extra month off…. Trust me, it's because I was working on a Star Wars story, that'll be up with Part Two as well, it'll give me some diversity to defeat writer's block.**

**In a week or two I'll have the first chapters of Part Two up and we can get rolling on it.**

**Until Next Time**


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